The Radavist

Photo by Morgan Taylor

John’s busy pumping out photo sets of all the radness at NAHBS, but the rest of us can still get out and enjoy the weekend!

Photos and words by Morgan Taylor.

Jarrod Bunk aka @hopecyclery is committed to fat biking year round. So committed, in fact, that he saw the need for a fender that would cover up to a 5″ tire and keep the mud out of your eyes. Jarrod started making fenders in his spare time and others voiced their desire for such a product.

When I got my hands on an early D.Fender prototype last winter, a few people asked why I would even need a fender on a fat bike – they’re meant for snow riding and that’s it, right? Well, I think that’s a shortsighted viewpoint. This style of fender is ubiquitous in the greater mountain bike world, and for good reason.

Eddie Master is method actor, his art form, mountain biking. In this short but powerful documentary film, Eddie risks his title as “King of the Enduro” in order to prove a point to the world, that there is no shame in fat bikes, and in order to do so, he piles on weight like he’s auditioning for a cameo role in another Eddie M’s The Crumps series.  The man simply sacrifices everything for his art,  and takes the Morgan Spurlock approach to the proof is in the pudding by simply eating all of the pudding. If you are not sold on fat bikes now, you better start cutting out coupons, because after you watch this video you are going to be buying bulk and living large with a whole new take on meaning of “The fat of the land.”

Is it wild to anyone else that there’s a Fat Bike Nats? Damn, it looks fun.

First debuted at Interbike, State Bicycle Co’s new singlespeed off-road division is now available for pre-order with a mid-November delivery. Their affordable cross bikes are available with a Reynolds wheel upgrade – which is almost as much as the bike itself, or as frames to be built us to your specification. Blastin into the fat marketplace are two singlespeed fat bikes, one coming in under $500 with an admittedly fun coaster brake setup and another with disc brakes for under $700.

See the full State Bicycle Co Off-Road Division below.

I’ve been stoked on this project since first posting about it! Now you can rent or buy the 11-minute documentary Hunting for Monsters at Vimeo!

“Lake Iliamna, Alaska’s largest lake, is home to many native communities, the worlds largest sockeye salmon run, potential site of the controversial Pebble Mine and the elusive Lake Monster – Illie. On a hot mid-July, Bjørn and Brent were deposited to the far shore of Cook Inlet in a landing craft cargo ship and began their human powered journey through Iliamna country to Bristol Bay, hoping to catch a glimpse of the illusive creature and slice of Alaska where monsters can still roam free.”

Moab was the spring product locale of choice for this year’s new product lineup across the MTB realm. Here’s Borealis‘ new Echo hardtail fat bike, using the new Rock Shox Bluto Fork.

Well, this morning we saw the Rock Shox Bluto fat bike suspension fork, with its tapered steerer and ample clearance. Problem is, a lot of the available fat bikes have traditional 1 1/8″ steerers. Although, over the past year, a lot of the fat bike offerings have converted to tapered steerers but the Salsa Bucksaw is the first to be designed around the Bluto. To add to the radness, they’ve added a rear shock too. That makes it the first full suspension – using Salsa’s Split Pivot™ system – fat bike in production.

Wow.

Available in the fall of 2014, the Bucksaw 1 will be $4,999 and Bucksaw 2 will be $3,999, and both will come with the RockShox Bluto fork.

See more at Salsa and make sure you read the Developing Buchsaw post!

Yep. I thought this was going to be on the April Fools list for sure. Turns out, the Rock Shox Bluto is a fat bike suspension fork, slated for release in June. If you’re out at Sea Otter, Rock Shox has a whole fleet of these for you to try out.

Check out more below.

Photos by Glenn Charles

We’ve all read the various theories on tire and wheel size when it comes to long distance cycling or touring but surely, few consider to ride their fat bike for 500 miles on (mostly) sealed roads. The Lost Coast is a relatively untapped goldmine for road porn. It’s a route I want to do some day and Glenn Charles’ photos from a recent ride he did with some friends shows why.

Seriously, if you’re in the mood for some inspirational photos, check out this story on Glenn’s Website!

Is the riding in LA the best in the country, or did a group of my close friends make it that way and present me with a great time, every time I’m in town? Who knows. I enjoy riding in LA, be it MTB, road or cross and while I love to ride road here, I’ve only begun to scratch the surface of the real dirty Los Angeles.

Oh and Ty can really boost his Surly Pugsley!

But it’s almost winter, so I guess it’s ok. Last week, Surly sent me one of their limited edition Pugsley fatbikes and I’ve been having a blast on it! Don’t worry, a full write-up is on the way.

Ever since riding a Krampus back in Minneapolis, I’ve had this little notion stuck in my head: go full fat. Say what you will about Surly (be nice) but they’ve helped establish a new sub-genre in dirt riding (see this thread for some history). Their fat bikes are taking the industry by storm and it’s not often you see something “special edition” coming out of their doors.

Save for this special brute:

“We ordered a very small number of these (around 500 world wide). The bike has an Surly OD crankset, SLX shifters, front derailleur and hydraulic brakes, with an LX rear derailleur. Also it’s got polished silver Holy Darryl rims and shiny bits all over the place. Plus those snazzy two-tone 60tpi Nates (baby!). ”

Uhhh, sign me up? See more at Surly!

One of my favorite publications just released their third issue online for free! Check it out above and see more information at Bunyan Velo. Free publications like this rely on reader support. If you can, make a small donation here.

Yonder Journal is fucking killing it. The latest report features fat bike apocalypse training in the Canyonlands. I don’t want to give away too much, but this photo-heavy story is amazing and worth the read. Head to Yonder Journal to check it out.